Tools

Categories

General City News

Posted on: November 13, 2017

Skeletal remains ID'd; suspects in custody & charged

On Monday, September 19, 2016, officers with the Huntsville Police Department began an investigation of skeletal remains found in the area of FM 247 and Grivich Drive. Since that date HPD detectives have been working diligently to determine what happened to the victim and find the persons responsible for the victim’s death. The Huntsville Police Department, with the assistance of the University of North Texas Center of Human Identification, has confirmed the identity of the skeletal remains as Noe Anael Espinal, 16 years of age, from Spring, Texas.

Working with the Texas Rangers and a Federal Bureau of Investigation/Houston Police Department task force operating under the name MAGTF (Multi-Agency Gang Task Force), HPD has made three arrests, with an additional two suspects in custody in Virginia awaiting extradition. There is also an active murder warrant on a sixth suspect.

Abner Portillo, Jose Zamora, Giovanny Villatoro, and Gerson Cabrera are in custody at the Walker County Jail on murder charges. Bryan Cabrera and Eduardo Mondragon are in custody in Virginia awaiting extradition for murder charges. All of the suspects except Zamora are Houston residents. Zamora resides in Huntsville.

Murder is a felony of the first degree and carries a possible punishment of imprisonment ranging from 5 to 99 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and a possible fine up to $10,000.

Chief Kevin Lunsford would like to thank the allied agencies and their personnel for their assistance.

“It is only because of the close cooperation between our agency, the Texas Rangers and the FBI/HPD MAGTF that we have made the progress we’ve made in this investigation in such a short amount of time,” said Lunsford. “We have the same goal, to keep our communities safe. All involved have worked numerous hours and spent time away from loved ones in an effort to get the persons involved in this crime into custody.”

For more information, contact HPD Lt. Curt Landrum at 936-291-4566 or -5480.